Saturday, August 6, 2011

jupiter in space - jupiter s mass

NASA launches spacecraft on 5-year trip to Jupiter
In this photo provided by NASA, an Atlas V rocket launches with the Juno spacecraft payload from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. NASA launched the spacecraft atop an unmanned rocket that blasted into a clear midday sky as scientists cheered and yelled "Go Juno!" It was the first step in Juno's 1.7 billion-mile voyage to the gas giant Jupiter, just two planets away but altogether different from Earth and next-door neighbor Mars. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls).

(AP) -- A sun-powered robotic explorer named Juno rocketed away Friday on a five-year journey to Jupiter, the solar system's most massive and ancient planet.